Haitian Man Shot In Head, Killed

Mysterious Death Stuns Family, Friends Of Recent Immigrant

December 23, 1996|By SARAH LUNDY Staff Writer

DELRAY BEACH - — Winter Marcelin came to Florida from Haiti more than six weeks ago, hoping for a better life. He was living with his mother and taking classes to learn English with the hope of improving his chances of getting a good job.

But the hope ended early on Sunday when he was shot in the head on Southwest Ninth Avenue near Atlantic Avenue.

Police arrived at Southwest Ninth Avenue just after 2 a.m. when officers nearby heard several gunshots, a police report showed.

They found Marcelin lying face-down next to a white Chevrolet Cavalier with a gunshot wound to his head, the police report said.

Neighbors told police they didn't see anything, but heard between two and four gunshots.

Police have not named any suspects.

Marcelin's family said he left his mother's home just after midnight to hang out with others from Haiti at a nearby restaurant. His brother, Frantz, saw him there.

"I was in the restaurant part. He asked me for $3 for a beer," Frantz Marcelin said.

Hours later, Frantz gathered with family and friends at his mother's house to mourn his older brother, whom they describe as being a quiet man.

They don't understand how this could happen.

Frantz Marcelin doesn't know why his brother ended up on Southwest Ninth Avenue. He had to walk past his street to get there and he didn't have a car, Frantz Marcelin said.

"He just came from Haiti and he hasn't got a friend," said Madeleine Lemorin, a family friend. "We don't know why he got shot."

Winter Marcelin, 31, lived in Haiti almost his entire life. He worked in some type of government job, his friends and family said. He had a 6-year-old son who lives in France, but Marcelin wasn't close to the boy, Lemorin said.

Marcelin never visited Florida before he decided to move here, she said. His mother, Ghislaine Marcelin, had lived in Delray Beach for almost 15 years. He also had two sisters and a brother move to Delray Beach several years ago.

Ghislaine Marcelin called relatives in Haiti about her son after police told her the news.